Somehow that title, contrasted with the chart (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/01/business/economy/changed-l...) showing how the price of food, especially has gone up in recent years while tech prices have fallen, makes me worry about a future reality where real food is so expensive it's only for the elite, and everyone else subsists on supplements like Soylent.
The End of Food?
11–20 of 74 posts
Re: The End of Food?
#12This screams link bait title, similar to "The End of the PC". Who knows what the longterm effects of Soylent are. At best, it's a supplement, and at worst... I don't even want to know. With that said, Soylent has a potential to make a big impact. But you can't scream that this is the end of food just because there is a cheaper and more efficient way of getting your nutrients. Eating food is a staple of our culture an…
Agreed. Soylent looks like a cool company with a great product (as long as it's not people) but the title of the article elicited a hearty groan from me. Why these kinds of articles get so much attention around here I'll never know.
Re: The End of Food?
#13NSFW
Whenever discussions of Soylent come up, I always wonder - would the same people who want to take Soylent also agree to taking a people that made their sex drive disappear? It will definitely save time and money to not have to worry about sex, after all.
NOTE: This is not a pro- or anti- Soylent sentiment, it's a mind experiment.
Re: The End of Food?
#14This screams link bait title, similar to "The End of the PC". Who knows what the longterm effects of Soylent are. At best, it's a supplement, and at worst... I don't even want to know. With that said, Soylent has a potential to make a big impact. But you can't scream that this is the end of food just because there is a cheaper and more efficient way of getting your nutrients. Eating food is a staple of our culture an…
The article addresses your concerns. First - the author lives almost entirely on Soylent for the past year and half. The reporter wrote that he looked and behaved really healthy. Sure, there could be some side effects that will manifest much later, but to this date it seems that there are none. Second - he doesn't believe that Soylent will, or should, replace food entirely. He calls everything else "recreational food…
> First - the author lives almost entirely on Soylent for the past year and half.
In other words, a sample size of one.
I haven't an opinion on the safety of the product, but a sample size of one only proves it's not an outright poison. It's likely not actively harmful, but still, nutrition is a complicated thing.
I just think the whole idea of it couldn't be more depressing. People who don't get enjoyment out of food freak me out a bit. There are few things I enjoy more than cooking and eating well prepared food.
Re: The End of Food?
#15Previous discussions on HN:
* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5369778
* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6175079
his blog: http://robrhinehart.com/
A short documentary style video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8NCigh54jg
Re: The End of Food?
#16This screams link bait title, similar to "The End of the PC". Who knows what the longterm effects of Soylent are. At best, it's a supplement, and at worst... I don't even want to know. With that said, Soylent has a potential to make a big impact. But you can't scream that this is the end of food just because there is a cheaper and more efficient way of getting your nutrients. Eating food is a staple of our culture an…
We barely know the long term effect of traditional food items out there.
We know for certain that it's possible to live to 100 years old with traditional food items. As of right now, we can't say the same for soylent.
I know this is a bit of an extreme comparison to make, but the "risk" between soylent and traditional food should be quite a lot.
Re: The End of Food?
#17> One of Silicon Valley’s cultural exports in the past ten years has been the concept of “lifehacking”: devising tricks to streamline the obligations of daily life, thereby freeing yourself up for whatever you’d rather be doing Well, to be frank, I'd rather be eating. What's the point of your life if you don't have time to even eat, let alone enjoy yourself.
I suppose the argument is that you derive some amount of enjoyment from eating due to hunger.
If you were never hungry, would you eat for enjoyment?
Soylent's premise is that you have time to do other fun or profitable things instead of making time for a meal.
Re: The End of Food?
#18NSFW Whenever discussions of Soylent come up, I always wonder - would the same people who want to take Soylent also agree to taking a people that made their sex drive disappear? It will definitely save time and money to not have to worry about sex, after all. NOTE: This is not a pro- or anti- Soylent sentiment, it's a mind experiment.
Food is more expensive and time consuming than sex.
I've never heard anyone say that sex is a chore, but I often feel that way cooking food that I don't want to eat, but have to because I'm hungry.
Re: The End of Food?
#19I'm a little concerned about the long-term effects. The article states that the founder looks and feels healthy, but since he's the only person living off Soylent for an extended period, this is anecdotal evidence at best. It reminds me of the death of Seth Roberts, a couple of days ago.
Re: The End of Food?
#20I've been making a homemade version of Soylent (http://www.cookingfor20.com/2013/06/18/hacker-school-soylent...) since September. It makes up one or two of my meals each day. I've got to say, I really really like it. I think it has a good chance of catching on. I still love eating out socially, but it has replaced all my my mediocre meals. I can imagine it replacing those aisles and aisles of junk, easy food (cereal, canned soup, mediocre pasta).
That said, I quickly had to come up with a better name than Soylent. I call mine Science (for human consumption). It makes it distinct from food. "Did you get lunch?" "No, I just had Science today."